Topological quantum phase transitions and edge states in spin-orbital coupled Fermi gases

We study the superconducting state in the presence of spin-orbital coupling and the Zeeman field. It is found that a phase transition from the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state to the topological superconducting state occurs upon increasing the spin-orbital coupling. The nature of this topological phase transition and its critical property are investigated numerically. Physical properties of topological superconducting phase are also explored. Moreover, the local density of states is calculated, through which the topological feature may be tested experimentally.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure

Echoes of Inflationary First-Order Phase Transitions in the CMB

Cosmological phase transitions (CPTs), such as the Grand Unified Theory (GUT) and the electroweak (EW) ones, play a significant role in both particle physics and cosmology. In this letter, we propose to probe the first-order CPTs, by detecting gravitational waves (GWs) which are generated during the phase transitions through the cosmic microwave background (CMB). If happened around the inflation era, the first-order CPTs may yield low-frequency GWs due to bubble dynamics, leaving imprints on the CMB. In contrast to the nearly scale-invariant primordial GWs caused by vacuum fluctuation, these bubble-generated GWs are scale dependent and have non-trivial B-mode spectra. If decoupled from inflaton, the EWPT during inflation may serve as a probe for the one after reheating where the baryon asymmetry could be generated via EW baryogenesis (EWBG). The CMB thus provides a potential way to test the feasibility of the EWBG, complementary to the collider measurements of Higgs potential and the direct detection of GWs generated during EWPT.Comment: 5+6 pages, 4 figures. V2 changed title, added one figure about constraints of Planck2015+BICEP2/Keck data, added references and removed appendix. Accepted by PL